Israelis cynical on peace

Having just returned from a trip to Israel, the overwhelming impression I got from speaking to many Israelis is that the Iranian-Hezbollah nuclear threat and the economy are the only issues in town. The many Israelis I spoke to appear to have no confidence at all in their government making offers to the Palestinians in return for peace and receiving nothing in return (“Israel’s new Labor looks away from Palestine”, AFR, January 17).

Many Israelis believe that even if they reached an agreement with President Mahmoud Abass, Hamas has the majority of Palestinians behind it and would never agree, short of Israeli capitulation.

After Israel fully vacated Gaza, all they got in return were more rocket attacks, more attempted terrorist attacks and more belligerent language from the Hamas leadership. I got the impression that, short of the Palestinians electing a Gandhi-like leader who represents all factions and is willing to take a pragmatic approach and reach an agreement similar to Israel’s Egyptian-Jordanian peace treaty, the majority of Israelis are reluctant to make any more concessions and are willing to keep the status quo.